TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES
Week of August 22 – 28, 2011
TOYOTA TIDBITS KYLE CLINCHES CHASE SPOT:
Camry driver Kyle Buschwon the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Michigan International Speedway — clinching a spot in the Chase championship playoff. Busch started 17th and led the field twice for a total of 22 laps. Along with his victory at Michigan, Busch also has wins at Bristol (March 20), Richmond (April 30) and Kentucky (July 9) this season. The win came in Busch’s 300th start in a Toyota and was his 80th victory across all three NASCAR series in a Toyota.
CENTENNIAL FOR CAMRY: Sunday’s win by Busch at Michigan was the 100th win for a Toyota Camry in NASCAR competition. Camry drivers have won 38 Sprint Cup Series races and 62 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) events since the start of the 2007 season. Six drivers have registered NSCS wins in a Camry — Busch (19), Denny Hamlin (14), David Reutimann(2), Joey Logano(1), Tony Stewart (1) and Brian Vickers(1). Seven drivers have registered NNS wins in a Camry — Busch (38), Logano (9), Hamlin (6), Stewart (5), Marcos Ambrose (2), Jason Leffler (1) and Reutimann (1).
BREAK OUT THE BROOM: Camry driver Buschmade history last August at Bristol Motor Speedway by becoming the first driver to sweep all three NASCAR national touring series races — Camping World Truck Series, Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup Series events — at one race track in a single weekend. Busch also swept the two races at Bristol earlier this season — giving him five consecutive race wins at the half-mile Tennessee track. Busch has more NSCS victories at Bristol (five) than at any other track. He also has three NNS wins and three NCWTS victories at Bristol. Darrell Waltrip holds the record for the most wins at Bristol with 12, including seven consecutive wins.
WILL MIKE LIKE IT?: Professional B.A.S.S. Elite Series competitor and Toyota angler Mike Iaconelliwill attend his first NASCAR race weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway in August. The 2006 B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year and 2003 BassMaster Classic champion endures a travel schedule similar to a NASCAR driver — as he fishes in tournaments across the country from Feb. until Sept. Iaconelli will take a weekend away from the lakes to take in the action at the half-mile Bristol bullring and meet race fans and Toyota NASCAR drivers.
MILESTONE FOR MIGUEL: Tundra driver Miguel Paludomade his first career NCWTS start one year ago at Bristol Motor Speedway driving for Germain Racing. The native of Nova Prata, Brazil, is competing in his first full season in the NCWTS and has now teamed with Red Horse Racing and is driving the No. 7 Tundra. Paludo made four NCWTS starts in 2010, earning two top-10 results. This week, Paludo returns to the half-mile Bristol track after earning his career-best finish in the NCWTS last week at Michigan International Speedway where he was third. Paludo has earned three top-five finishes and four top-10 results this year. Paludo and his wife, Patricia, welcomed their first child, Oliv er, on Monday morning.7
NOTES, QUOTES & NUMBERS
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series(NSCS): Since the start of the 2011 season, Toyota drivers have combined for five victories, 28 top-five results, 52 top-10 finishes and have led 2,009 laps … After 24 races, Kyle Busch leads the series point standings and is the only driver locked into the Chase championship playoff with three races to go before the cutoff … Denny Hamlin (14th) is currently 59 points out of the 10th position, which would lock him into the Chase … Mike Ford, crew chief for the No. 11 Camry driven by Hamlin, is from Morristown, Tenn. — 75 miles Southwest of Bristol.
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Doublemint Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Is your team the one to watch in the Chase? “No. There’s way too much that can happen, way too many laps to run, way too many miles to run. Certainly, we’ve built ourselves into championship contenders this year and that’s where our strong suit has been up to this point, it’s just being able to be consistent or at least try to be consistent. Bristol obviously being one of the best tracks for me, then going to Atlanta — not so great for me. I have won there. See if we can’t get a good run and win the Sprint Summer Showdown, win money for a fan and my foundation. Going to Richmond — one of my favorites as well. We’d love nothing more than to carry on our strong runs through the final 10 weeks. It’s just a matter of being consistent.” What makes Bristol so unique and a place that fans love? “Bristol Motor Speedway is one of the best race tracks on the circuit. All the fans love it because of the excitement, the run- ins, and the close-quarter action with all the cars being packed on top of one another at a half-mile race track with us 43 lunatics running around in a tight circle. With the fans, the atmosphere there always makes for a good time. We have the SAFER barrier on the outside wall taking up a little bit more racing room up off the corners since they’ve run the wall further down the straightaway. But, it’s taking up some racing room and it makes the racing even tighter and we are probably going to see some more action.”
DAVE ROGERS, crew chief, No. 18 Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing What was it like in victory lane one year ago at Bristol? “Relief. I went to Kyle’s (Busch) house prior to the 2010 racing season and we went up in his trophy room and my two boys were with me and he has the collection of Bristol trophies there and I was joking with one of my boys and said, ‘You know boys, some crew chiefs say that all you have to do is bring Kyle Busch to Bristol and you’ll get one of these.’ I patted the top of the trophy and that is the perception and somewhat a true perception. The kid can get it done in anything. It adds a tremendous amount of pressure to the race team when you’re expected to win. Just sitting in victory lane the only thing I could think was, ‘Wow, we did what we were supposed to do, what a relief.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Are you confident you can turn your team around and be effective in the Chase? “I won eight races last year, I’m pretty sure that I’m capable. Mike Ford (crew chief) is capable and the team itself. You know, you look at every driver’s career who were second to Jimmie Johnson — these kind of years happen. It hasn’t happened to me in five years. This is the first time where I’ve struggled and we’re struggling to find the balance of the car that I want. Mike is struggling to find what I need to put what he needs to put in the car for me to run well. It’s just a part of it. Kyle Busch won eight races, failed to make the Chase the next year. It’s just part of learning. I’m not going to make any excuses and I’m not going to sugar-coat it because it’s on me to try to get better at this one.”
NASCAR Nationwide Series(NNS): During the 2011 season, Toyota drivers have combined for eight wins, 26 top-five results, 63 top-10 finishes and have led 1,270 laps … Kenny Wallace (seventh) is the top Toyota driver in the NNS point standings … Steve Wallace (eighth), Brian Scott (ninth) and Michael Annett (10th) are also in the top-10 in the standings … S. Wallace earned his career-best finish of fourth in last week’s road course race in Montreal … Kevin Kidd, crew chief on the No. 11 Camry for Brian Scott, is from Tazewell, Va. — 75 miles Northeast of Bristol.
JASON RATCLIFF, crew chief, No. 18 Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing How much pressure do you feel heading into a weekend where Kyle Busch will run three races at one race track? “There’s always that added pressure because you don’t want to be the reason that he (Kyle Busch) wasn’t able to do it (sweep) again. You look at that and you know in the back of your mind that there’s a chance here to do something even bigger and better and greater than just what our initial goal was, and that was to show up at this race track and take the trophy home. You’re always looking at things like that and it’s just like last year, one of our goals was to get the most wins in a season and we were able to do that. You get right there to that one final step that you have to take and you’ve got to be successful at it to make it happen. It’s no different than him running all three series in one weekend. You want to do the best you can and it’s an opportunity for him to go out there and get that ‘three-peat’ and you want it as much for him as anything. You make sure that you give 110 percent in everything you do.”
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series(NCWTS): Since the start of the 2011 NCWTS season, Tundra drivers have registered eight wins, 25 top-five results, 46 top-10 finishes and have led 795 laps … After 15 races, Timothy Peters (fourth) is the top Toyota driver in the NCWTS points standings — 12 points behind leader Johnny Sauter … Tundra drivers have won five of the seven NCWTS races they have competed in at Bristol since joining the series in 2004 … Three drivers have visited victory lane at Bristol in a Tundra — Kyle Busch (2010, 2009 and 2008), Johnny Benson (2007) and Mike Skinner (2005).
MIGUEL PALUDO, No. 7 Stemco Duroline Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing What do you think of your first year in the Truck Series? “I love the Truck Series. The competition is very strong and you have to put in your best each lap or you will get behind. I am learning by competing with the veteran drivers in the series and the Cup Series drivers that come over to compete. I have just been trying to soak in as much information as possible. I am very happy at how far we have come. Our goal this year is still to win a race and we came very close last weekend in Michigan. I just look forward to more runs like that.”
TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing How do you feel about your bid for the championship? “I still feel it is too early to be thinking about the championship. It is always something that is on our minds, but we have to race each race and let the points take care of themselves. Our goal obviously is to take home the hardware in Homestead, but we are just taking one race at a time.”
BRENDAN GAUGHAN, No. 62 South Point Hotel and Casino Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Do you enjoy racing at Bristol? “I love Bristol. It’s the Roman Coliseum of racing. The banking is really high, the grandstands go on forever. The place is very cool. I’m not a big short track racer, but Bristol doesn’t count as a short track to me. I love it. I’ve had some of my best career races there and I think the momentum this South Point Hotel & Casino Tundra team has should give us a shot at a strong finish Wednesday night.”
TOYOTA 2011 NASCAR STATISTICS Series Races Starts (Drivers) Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Times Led Laps Led NSCS 23 275 (18) 5 28 52 4 175 2,009 NNS 24 186 (22) 8 26 63 3 77 1,270 NCWTS 15 171 (28) 8 25 46 2 42 795
TOYOTA DRIVER ROSTER – Bristol Motor Speedway NASCAR Sprint Cup Series David Reutimann, No. 00 Aaron’s Freedom Ride Camry Kasey Kahne, No. 4 Red Bull Camry Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Camry Casey Mears, No. 13 GEICO Camry Kyle Busch, No. 18 Doublemint Camry Joey Logano, No. 20 Home Depot Camry Bobby Labonte, No. 47 Kingsford-Bush’s Camry Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Camry Mike Skinner, No. 60 Big Red Camry Michael McDowell, No. 66 HP Racing Camry Brian Vickers, No. 83 Red Bull Camry Joe Nemechek, No. 87 AM/FM Camry NASCAR Nationwide Series Kenny Wallace, No. 09 Federated Auto Parts Camry Brian Scott, No. 11 Shore Lodge Camry Kyle Busch, No. 18 Z-Line Designs Camry Joey Logano, No. 20 GameStop Camry Michael Annett, No. 62 Pilot/Flying J Camry David Reutimann, No. 64 Rusty Wallace Racing Camry Steve Wallace, No. 66 5-Hour Energy Camry John Jackson, No. 72 crashclaimsR.US Camry Kevin Conway, No. 87 Extenze Camry Joe Nemechek, No. 97 AM/FM Camry NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Todd Bodine, No. 5 Valvoline/International Tundra Justin Lofton, No. 6 CollegeComplete.com Tundra Miguel Paludo, No. 7 Stemco Duroline Tundra John King, No. 07 Edward Jones Investments Tundra Max Papis, No. 9 GEICO Tundra Timothy Peters, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Tundra Kyle Busch, No. 18 Dollar General Tundra Johanna Long, No. 20 Panhandle Grading Tundra Brendan Gaughan, No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Tundra David Starr, No. 81 Advocare Tundra Josh Richards, No. 151 Joy Mining Machinery Tundra
WEEKEND RACE SCHEDULE Wed., Aug. 24 — NCWTS @ Bristol Motor Speedway – 8:00 PM (ET), SPEED — Race 16 of 25 Fri., Aug. 26 — NNS @ Bristol Motor Speedway – 7:30 PM (ET), ESPN – Race 25 of 34 Sat., Aug. 27 — NSCS @ Bristol Motor Speedway – 7:30 PM (ET), ABC — Race 24 of 36
